An 18-year-old high school student has made a groundbreaking discovery in astronomy by developing an artificial intelligence algorithm that analyzed understudied data from NASA’s retired NEOWISE telescope. Matteo Paz, from Pasadena, California, won $250,000 for his achievement, which revealed over 1.5 million potential new objects in space.
Paz used his machine learning model to process 200 billion data entries from the NEOWISE telescope and identified variable stars, supernovas, and black holes. The project was a result of Paz’s participation in the Planet Finder Academy at California Institute of Technology (Caltech) in summer 2022, where he studied astronomy and computer science under the guidance of his mentor, Davy Kirkpatrick.
Kirkpatrick had previously worked with data from the NEOWISE infrared telescope, which collected information on rare phenomena such as exploding stars. He proposed the idea to look for these objects in the understudied data, and Paz’s AI model was able to flag 1.5 million potential new celestial bodies.
Paz’s discovery has been widely recognized by the scientific community, with Caltech researchers already using his catalog of potential variable objects, called VarWISE, to study binary star systems. The society overseeing the Regeneron Science Talent Search praised Paz’s achievement, saying it brings “renewed hope for our future” and highlights the ingenuity and dedication of young scientists.
Source: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/high-school-student-discovers-1-5-million-potential-new-astronomical-objects-by-developing-an-ai-algorithm-180986429